1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of information reminding systems. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of personal medical treatment and sample collection reminders.
2. Description of Related Art
An efficacious reminder system is important in certain medical treatments or programs of treatment. This is especially true in regard to the collection of urine specimens.
In medicine, urine is commonly collected for at least three purposes. One purpose is to quantify how much protein is lost in the urine over a 24-hour period. The amount of protein lost directly pertains to whether or not the patient has a serious kidney disease, and 24-hour urine specimens are routinely collected at intervals to monitor the response to treatment of disease that cause protein leakage into the urine.
Another purpose, again utilizing a 24-hour collection time frame, is used to measure the amount of creatinine in the urine. If the 24-hour amount of creatinine in the urine is accurately known, and the creatinine level in the blood also is determined, the functional capacity of the kidney can be determined.
Still another purpose is with patients having renal stones, urine is collected to determine the 24-hour excretion rate of various minerals and other chemicals such as uric acid, calcium, sodium, and citrate.
In all of these instances, the common method is to give the patient a large collection bottle, which may or may not be kept refrigerated, that the patient is sent home with. It is the patient's responsibility to collect all of the urine during the 24-hour period into the bottle. However, a patient normally urinates from 4–8 times over a 24-hour period. Often a patient must use different bathrooms, in his or her house, at work, or other places. During the normal stresses of the day, it is quite easy for a patient to simply go to a bathroom and urinate directly into the toilet, forgetting to collect the sample and thereby causing the collection of urine to be incomplete. This has important consequences. In the case of proteinuria, it can cause the amount of protein leakage to be underestimated, which may lead to an inappropriate diagnosis. In the case of creatinine, the functional capacity of the kidney will be underestimated. In the case of uric acid, calcium, sodium, or citrate, the mineral excretion rate will be underestimated, which may lead to errors in diagnosis and treatment. Collection of urine in children is especially difficult, given their active lifestyles.
The alternative, performing an incomplete urine collection and testing, is by orders of magnitude more costly, since it necessitates repeating every step of the process: another doctor's consultation with a patient; another collection regime requiring another kit; another round of laboratory testing; and, reanalysis of the results, after which the patient may require another consultation. The inconvenience and burden on treatment provider, patient, and overall on the health care system, in addition to the immediate monetary costs, should be evident and can prove very significant.
Devices and reminder systems have previously been provided to remind an individual of certain dates or duties. Some of these systems require an individual to provide input or perform a manual operation of some sort, as for example in the use of visual and handwritten appointment books or electronic calendar devices. Other systems may provide visual or audio aids and features to accomplish a reminder function, examples of which include wristwatch beepers and personal pagers or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,164 discloses training pants for a toddler having a releasably attachable pad on the front of the pants containing several figures hidden from view by individual releasable patches of fabric. The figures as such provide a visual reward system for a toddler upon removal of a patch and display of a figure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,734 discloses a nursing bra having an integral reminder device that includes a base member on which is mounted a designating member movable between two indicating positions. The nursing reminder device is not designed to impose behavior modification or to change an established pattern of behavior. Breast-feeding will continue whether or not the nursing bra is employed. The nursing bra simply serves as a marker to identify which of two breasts was last used for feeding.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,833 discloses a strap-like band having one or more attached, protruding reminder tabs that attaches to a person's wrist and provides a visual reminder to the wearer.
One disadvantage of prior art reminder devices is that some only provide a visual reminder and therefore can easily remain unnoticed or their presence ignored. Another disadvantage of some prior art reminders is that they are not geared to or suitable for dispensing by primary care providers, such as physicians, physician's assistants, or nurses, to a patient as part of a patient's self-administered specimen collection or treatment kit or activity.
Still another disadvantage of some reminder devices is their relative complexity. This is especially true in regard to electronic devices like electronic handheld calendars/reminders, and is reflected in their relatively higher cost. An additional disadvantage is the requirement that the user input information in order to activate the reminder function. The user must also ensure that the device is working, powered up, not low on charge, and so forth. A disadvantage of watch alarm-type devices is that these provide just a generic reminder without focusing on a specific activity.